I beg to move, That this House has considered LGBT+ History Month. For most people under the age of 40, it is almost impossible to imagine a society in which LGBT+ people were not visible and integrated.

Most, if not all, of us have LGBT+ family, friends and colleagues; in this Chamber, one in 10 Members identifies as LGBT+, a world record for any Parliament, as far as we know. Yet it was not long ago that LGBT+ people were either invisible or villainised.

If an LGBT+ person was hospitalised, their partner was not recognised as next of kin. Trans people on TV were confined to clichés and offensive stereotypes. According to the papers, LGBT+ people were deviants to be feared.

That British society is now largely a welcoming place for LGBT+ people is due to the tireless and patient efforts of countless individuals and groups, from the early efforts of campaigners in the 1950s, quietly seeking the recommendations of Lord Wolfenden and seeing them made into law, to the loud protests against section 28 in the 1980s and the moving fight for marriage equality in the 2010s.

These people have not only driven change, but enriched our society. The Stonewall riots in America were a landmark moment in the global fight for LGBT+ equality. From then on, unapologetic visibility and authenticity would be the banner under which LGBT+ people would organise.

Those lessons were learned, and were adapted to the UK, where we have our own history of struggle for LGBT+ equality. Our first Pride march was held in 1972, when a few hundred brave souls wound their way from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square.

The trepidation those individuals must have experienced may be hard for many of us today to imagine; yet alongside their trepidation, there must also have been a strong sense of action, achievement and community.

It was undoubtedly that sense of community that played a part in one of the more colourful moments in our history.

Some 37 years ago, in this very building, in an inverse of “It’s Raining Men”, a number of lesbians abseiled their way from the Public Gallery on to the Benches of the other place in protest against the passing of section 28.

Back in Wales, in the area my family is from, the traditional mining communities of the Neath, Swansea and Dulais valleys were perhaps somewhat bemused to be supported financially and morally during the miners’ strike of 1984 by Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners; in turn, they were repaid by the legendary friendship and loyalty of many of those in the mining communities in 1985, when the miners showed their support by joining the Pride marches in Cardiff and London.

I thank my hon. Friend for her incredible speech and for her commitment to this House. I know of my hon. Friend’s journey when she was a teacher.

Does she agree that it is important for allies to stick together and fight for other people’s rights, as well as our own, if we are truly to move forward with recognising and appreciating people and allowing them to be their authentic selves?

I was not going to intervene on that point, but I was reminded of my Uncle Stephen who sadly passed away in the ’90s following a positive HIV diagnosis and I wanted to take this opportunity to mention him in this place. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Thank you.

Does the Minister agree that it is so important that we end the stigma around HIV to support more people, so that people like my Uncle Stephen do not have their lives ended prematurely?

I appreciate the Minister’s apology, but to have taken such a stance would have meant her losing her job. Although we can always reflect and do better in hindsight, we have to be kind to ourselves and give ourselves the space to be able to see the grace in ourselves as well.

It is always a pleasure to stand at the Dispatch Box on behalf of his Majesty’s loyal Opposition, but I particularly welcome the chance to take part in this debate during LGBT+ History Month, which was first celebrated in 2005 and has been celebrated every February since then—I wish it a very happy 20th birthday.

I welcomed the Minister’s opening speech, and, in particular, her updates on the Cass review of how we support young people and their parents and carers.

The theme of this year’s LGBT+ History Month is activism and social change, and it is very pleasing that some Members are currently in Westminster Hall debating National HIV Testing Week.

As we have heard, in the last few decades some truly remarkable men and women have fought successfully for social change and, more substantially, a complete sea change in social attitudes to LGBT+ people—such a change, indeed, that in 2019, under the Conservatives, Alan Turing was pictured on the £50 note.

What progress!

The fact that we are now rightly, properly and joyfully able to celebrate gay marriage is another huge step forward, and, as we heard from the Minister, as a country we have apologised and worked to compensate our LGBT+ veterans, who have been treated abominably in the service of our country.

The fact we can celebrate those individuals in history properly, rather than seeing what they saw—the shameful treatment that they received—and the fact that Alan Turing has been rightly celebrated show just how much we have moved on.

Like, I am sure, many other Members who are present today, I have met constituents who have been affected by that ban, and we welcome both the memorial and the redress scheme. Nowhere have we seen more change in the past 40 years than in the battle on HIV and AIDS.

When I was first appointed to my role as shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, one of my first meetings was with representatives of the wonderful Terrence Higgins Trust.

Terry Higgins was one of the first people in the UK to die of an AIDS-related illness, and the trust that bears his name was set up with the intention of preventing others from having to suffer in the way in which he had.

It focused on raising funds for research and awareness of the illness which at the time was called gay-related immune deficiency, or GRID—the name itself was a marker of prejudice at the time.

The trust was the first charity in the UK to be set up in response to the HIV epidemic, and has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV and AIDS ever since. As we heard from the Minister, this charity is just one of the groups that have driven real, positive change.

We are proud and thankful to them all for the work that they have done, then and now.

I call the Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

I call Mims Davies.

I thank all hon. Members for the constructive debate that we have had. I thank in particular the spokesperson for the Opposition, the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies), for her excellent contributions.

She reminded us that the theme for this LGBT+ History Month is activism and social change. She paid tribute to Alan Turing, as other hon. Members did, and reminded us of her party’s achievements in government and the progress made there.

She—very helpfully—gave her full commitment to ending the transmission of HIV infections by 2030. We welcome that cross-party support. The hon. Lady asked about the relationships, sex and health education guidance.

The Government are engaging with stakeholders including parents, teachers and pupils to discuss the draft guidance on RSHE and gender questioning in schools and colleges, and drawing from available evidence, including the Cass review, to finalise the guidance.

We are taking the time to get this right and considering all available evidence alongside the consultation responses before setting out the next steps. It is absolutely good practice for schools and governing bodies to share their RSHE policies with parents.

I thank the Minister for chairing an excellent roundtable yesterday through the all-party parliamentary human rights group.

The key message we heard from human rights campaigners from east Africa and global organisations was that we are experiencing LGBT history right now in the cuts to US Government funding being forced out by insidious transnational anti-rights campaigns.

The call for the UK to step in and fill the gap left by the US Government was very clear, and I hope the Minister will be taking that forward.